Friday, March 31, 2006

Well, we're done with the Rocky Mountain Bootleg series, and returning to just supplying any good choons we find. Today I'm going to link y'all to the Carbon Silicon website. For those not in the know, Carbon Silicon (C/S) is Mick Jones' (of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite) and Tony James' (of Generation X and Sigue Sigue Sputnik) new band, a mix of rock with some electronic influences. The music is badass, and the band has recently released some free recordings that are far and away the best tracks they've laid down to date. So, go to the site, grab the mp3s, and enjoy the new sounds of some old geezers. Have a good weekend.

For those not in the know, the evangelical "War on Christians" conference began earlier this week in an effort to re-fortify the persectution complex required to send out rich, affluent, well-to-do Evangelical Christian Republican types to the voting booth and make them vote against all those fags that will come and kill their children with their progressive taxing policies. Or something. It's a little hard to figure out how all this crap fits together in the minds of people that attend conferences like this (people like Tom Delay and Sam Brownback). Anyways, besides all sorts of crying over how marginalized the white male Christian is in society these days (despite, by their own admission, having control of the presidency, Congress, and Supreme Court), these guys have also written up a "Value Voter's Contract with Congress." Perhaps the single greatest piece of stupid to ever be written, this contract starts off by complaing about liberals for a few paragraphs and then begins listing demands that begin with requiring God to be basically everywhere all the time, and veering off into demands on taxation and eminent domain (taxes and property... what these guys REALLY care about). The whole thing reads like some bizarre parody, except its all true. It's worth your while to read, because this is the kind of crap Republicans in office are going to have to start advocating for (or kick it up a notch) in order to remain in the favour of "values voters" (such a b.s. term, it's not even funny anymore).

An an analysis of Card's resignation can be found here. Because it's short, I'll copy the whole darned thing:

He wasn't the problem. Hardly the most powerful chief of staff in presidential history, Card was a glorified scheduler who took a back seat to Vice President Dick Cheney and his own supposed deputy, Karl Rove.

This is no shakeup. Even some Republicans on Capitol Hill were calling for a "gray beard" -- a former member of Congress or someone high profile from outside the White House -- to replace Card with a portfolio to fire others.

Josh Bolten is no "gray beard." The OMB director might not sit in the West Wing, but he is inside the bubble of this White House, and lacks the background and friendships on Capitol Hill that GOP leaders were hoping for in a new chief of staff.

Finger in the levee syndrome. Just as firing Michael Brown as FEMA chief failed to stem criticism of the administration's Katrina handling, trying to create the impression of change with the Card-to-Bolten maneuver could only serve to provoke more calls for more change.

Ousted staffers tend to take revenge. While Card is loyal to the Bush family, he has strong ties on background to many in the news media. Any frustrations he might feel are likely to come out over time.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

After getting into a little debate about the French Riots with my roommate (where I called the rioters "morons," something which I'm usually able to refrain from, 'cuz throwing around terms like that can only get you so far), a debate where one of my primary complaints was about the total lack of information coming from anywhere that supported the rioters. As in, because there was a lack of defense, I didn't buy that there was a worthwhile defense to be made about the riots. This kind of logic is dubious, but when you're trying to extrapolate information about events and actors, if someone doesn't explain themselves... well... it doesn't make the other side look worse. Anyhow, the point is that with that model my opinions about events are subject to change whenever new data gets integrated into my understanding of a situation. Finally, there's some new data. A diary entry on Kos can be found here, which provides one of the only worthwhile and coherent alternative vantage points on the riot that I've seen yet.

As with most kos diaries, many of the comments are probably at least as informative as the entry itself, and others provide criticism which I would, only they say it better. In short, I'm still weighing this new information, and going to be stacking it up against what CNN, the BBC, the Economist, the Guardian, etc. are saying about the riots. The fact that this one lone entry in a sea of non-information regarding alternative views of the riots is even worth mentioning when the chips are so stacked in favour of the prevailing viewpoint speaks to the quality of DailyKos and many of the diarists there.

Anyhow, as for the article, I'm a little dubious as to some of its number crunching, and some of its claims are highly suspect, but its worth reading. I haven't provided links to the other views mentioned, because... well... just throw a stone into the sea of news and you'll hit one of those articles. Wow, I'm very metaphorical today.

Hmm... with no stance taken, its sure hard to end these gosh darned entries.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Wow, if you haven't read this article in the NYTimes, do so. Good stuff. So, thinking really can be illegal. I think this is the sort of stuff that they have in what are called "corporate police states." But, thank God we in America love freedom too much for that. Not of thought, though. That freedom sucks. Patent pending.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Bronson Arroyo has been traded to the Reds for outfielder Wily Mo Pena. A good deal? Hard to say. Arroyo was a loyal Sox, offering himself below "market value" and hoping not to get traded. This may hurt the chances of players signing to the Sox in the future with the "hometown discount," but when that deal was done to sign Arroyo, it didn't look like we were going to have to keep Wells on and Theo wasn't back yet... so what can ya do. WMP is looking to be a backup outfielder, platooning for Trot (with some talk of WMP going to first, shuffling Youk to 3rd, and ending the "Lowell Experiment" which is not going well in Spring Training). He has power, and if he can learn some plate discipline he could be a real asset to the lineup. Plus, he has the best defense in the outfield right now. The trade seems okay, it just has a certain stink to it.

In other Sox news, the rumor mill is is in full swing that Clemens may be in the wings for the Sox. Clemens' agent had a meeting with Theo the other day, and word is that Clemens just bought a home in MA, so I guess anything is possible. If this materializes then I'll feel better about losing Arroyo (although I still think we could have used him out of the bullpen).

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Ahhh, the sixth Rocky Mountain Bootleg. I think it makes sense for me to end it here, since I myself will be heading to the Rocky Mountains tomorrow. It's symbolic... or something. But yeah, enjoy the last installment of fine Colorado music today. Since I've been a crappy updater this week, I'm going to go all out and give y'all a couple of nice goodies, not just one! Here they are:

National Blacklist & Punkaholics Anonymous - I've been pimping my band (National Blacklist) for as long as I can remember, and the tracks are nothing special (download anyways!), but I'm bringing up my site for another reason, a better reason. As I related in my other blog - I found an mp3 from a band that my band used to play with all the time - a band that was much better than we were (and we made them open all the time, weren't we just big jerks? Yes.) and made a very fine, very enjoyable track called "Money" which you should all go get off my site. I made up a little cover art to go along with it, so you all can make your very own P.A. singles. If anyone in the band (read: Steve-O) has a problem with all this, let me know and we can work stuff out. I may try and start slowing accumulating tracks from the old scene and uploading them to my site. It would make a nice memorial to those times.

COTapers - This is a nice little site that shares torrents of live shows that were taped in Colorado, and many of the bands featured are also from Colorado. A neat little site, enjoy if torrents of live shows are your thing.

Dave Matthew Band - This site (Ants Marching) is a fantastic resource for downloads, trading, torrents, and whatever else when it comes to the dave matthews live show community. DMB actually got there start at a bar about 20 minutes from where I live in Colorado. The bar is burned down now but that band is still going strong. I know a lot of you mock my enjoyment of this band, and to all you: shut up and just move onto the next offering, you'll be glad you did.

The Denver Gentlemen - This Slim Cessna's (of Auto Club fame) first band, and they're good. Very good. Gothic country in the vein of SCAC, Munly, Tarantella, etc. This is their site and it contains their first album available in its entirety free to download. They also have a second album that just came out on Smooch Records, a great label for amazing colorado music. Download the tracks, check out the label, get yer "yee-haw" on. Rock.

That's all for me, posts may be intermittent or non-existant next week (it being Spring Break), but I'll try and get something up. Until next next time...

I know I said I was probably just going to throw up TFB, but this is worth linking to. It's a new advocacy group for gamers, opposed to legislation that would bring the government into the affairs of the video game industry, content wise. If you're a) a gamer, or b) serious about parents having to take some responsibility for their children's upbringing, this is a group worth checking out. Find out more about them, how to join (it's free, don't worry), and the issues they're involved with here.

Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday folks; honestly, I looked at the news and what the other blogs were saying, but I didn't feel like my posting would contribute anything (not that it usually does, but whatever). Anyways, probably no "newsy" type posts today - it's my birthday and I have other stuff to do. But, at some point I'm going to post The Friday Bootleg a day early, since I won' have tomorrow (plane to catch and all that). So, enjoy your day and tune in later for some sweet Colorado music.

Monday, March 13, 2006

Finally, some exposure on how NOT left-friendly McCain is. Krugman's Op-Ed in the New York Times lays it all out. Unfortunately, the NYTimes won't let you read Op-Eds anymore without fronting $$$, so just link yourself over to the MyDD entry here and get your fill. It touches on a lot of what has been brought up in this blog previously, but since it's Krugman it sounds better.

The Carpetbagger Report has an excellent writeup here of Dean and his work heading the DNC. Big City liberal inside-the-beltway types are miffed because Dean is working on building state infrastructure in places where the Democratic Party has been weak in the past (read: anywhere that big cities aren't). This makes for less money in the DNC treasury, but more party support across the entire nation. When people tell you Dean is mis-managing the DNC, don't believe them. They're elitist idiots who know nothing of the party outside the beltway.

Russ Feingold is calling for the president to be censured for the illegal wiretapping which violated the constitution. Says Feingold:

"There can be debate about whether the law should be changed. There can be debate about how best to fight terrorism. We all believe that there should be wiretapping in appropriate cases -- but the idea that the president can just make up a law, in violation of his oath of office, has to be answered."

And what do Republicans have to answer with? Not any answer regarding the legality of the wiretapping. No, they don't want the president punished because it would make freedom cry. Says Bill Frist:

"He is flat wrong, he is dead wrong," said the Tennessee Republican -- also a potential presidential candidate in 2008 -- adding that "attacking our commander in chief ... doesn't make sense."

See? Telling our president it's wrong to do things that are illegal sends the wrong kind of message to the world. It says to the world, "hey, see us over here? We're so pro-terrorist we want out rights protected. Come and bomb us. Please."

Wait... censuring our president wouldn't sent that kind of message at all. Hey, I guess Bill Frist is just a fucknut.

Friday, March 10, 2006

Sorry about the lack of updates yesterday, that's just how the cookie crumbles. Anyways, today is the 5th Rocky Mountain Bootleg, and I will NOT be using 7 Inch Punk Again. Instead, I'm dramatically shifting gears and offering up something on the country-bluegrass-jam band fusion end of the spectrum, some Yonder Mountain String Band. This Colorado band has a huge following in the state, and probably elsewhere. They're freakin' hippies, and the jams can get a little tedious (in my humble opinion), but they play some mean country an bluegrass, and they do some killer covers of punk and metal songs. They do rock (just don't let any of those freakin' hippies hear me say that). Anyhow, I present you with a show that yours truly attended, the December 30th 2005 Fillmore Concert, a two night event (this being night one) in celebration of the New Year. They play some good music, Peter Rowan comes out and plays, and they cover The Misfit's 20 Eyes. What more do you want? Check out the show here.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Chris Matthew - no friend of the Left. That's for sure. Media Matters has the full report here. In short, Matthews' show Hardball regularly features more Republicans and Conservatives than Democrats and Liberals. Tie in Matthews increasingly conservative personal views and you have a show on par with The Factor for right wing hackery. Kudos, Chris.

With Vista on the horizons, Microsoft is slowing unveiling new little bits of its next-gen platform (and relates stuff) here and there. Previously, we had IE 7 released in Beta form, and today we have the launch of Windows Live Search, Microsoft's new web search engine, and an attempt to answer to Google. I've been trying it out a little bit, and I'm more impressed than I thought I would be. It's "neat." Will it replace Google? Maybe... probably not, but you never know. Anyways, it's worth taking a gander at, to see what direction Microsoft is going to be taking with its new product line.

A new crustacean was found in the South Pacific, and it looks like a furry lobster. Check out the CNN story here for a picture of the weird little thing. There's not really much else to say, I just thought it was kind of neat little critter.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Adding to Flex's 'Beating a Dead Horse' post below, I'd like to add another beautiful fact to Mr. McCain's record: He supports the Dubai Ports World deal and is actively trying to convince other Repubican senators that giving control of handling cargo in U.S. Ports to a country who's leaders have met with Osama bin Laden is a fine and dandy thing.

John McCain - Renegade, Maverick Republican Senator who also seems dumber then dirt right now.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Hmm, I'm just a posting (and linking) machine today. Want to point y'all here to Atrios' entry on the rhetoric of "abstinence," and more importantly, single issues.

Basically, I like the entry because it a) expounds on the rhetoric of the Right, and the idea of teaching "abstinence only" vs. "abstinence AND safe sex," which some people seem to be getting confused about; and b) it supports the notion that their is a place for "single issue" advocacy, something which I think is lacking from the likes of Kos.

See, this is why Digby is the best. Read this post here. It's excellent. It's about abortion and when the Right wing yahoos think its "acceptable" to have one. Full of piss n vinegar, that Digby is. If you're pro-choice, prepare to get angry. If you're not, prepare to... feel like an ass?

Maybe I'm just not reading the right papers, but I don't generally find articles this good in the U.S. paper. Way to go BBC. A little taste:

The Washington Post reported that 1,300 bodies had been taken there since the upsurge in sectarian violence which followed the bombing of the Shia shrine at Samarra on 22 February.

A former UN official said that many of these bodies showed signs of torture and summary execution.

By contrast the US commander in Iraq, Gen George W Casey Jr, insisted that there had been no great increase in the amount of communal violence and that the number of deaths was probably around 350.

Simson goes on to expalin that in times like this, it makes more sense to trust journalists and their own eyes than to trust government officials. Agreed. Unfortunately, in the U.S. at least, journalists mostly just parrot what the government says as fact and gives less weight to what they themselves may be seeing on the ground. It reminds me of a story:

A woman comes home from work early, and when she gets in the house she hears noises coming from her bedroom. Opening the door to her bedroom, she finds her husband with being intimate with another woman. Rightly outraged, the woman begins to yell at the husband, accusing him of cheating on her. In response, the man says "Baby, I swear I'm being faithful to you. What are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?"

David Wells, pitcher for the Red Sox, said he is rescinding his trade request and wants to stay in Boston. That's awesome news. The Red Sox now have an (over)abundance of pitchers, which is a really good thing. Conventional wisdom in baseball is that you can never have too many pitchers, and having an ace-like pitcher in the form of 15-game winner Wells is a boon to the team. Plus, he's wicked badass. The mofo is seriously wild and if this is his last year... well, I think Surviving Grady does the best analysis of Wells and what this year could mean, find it here.

Friday, March 03, 2006

Sorry about the lack of updating; next week should be less hectic and I'll try to get some more posts under my belt. Anyways, mooching off of 7 Inch Punk one more time, here is some truly classic Colorado hardcore punk rock. 1983 y'all! That's before my time, but the music speaks for itself and its ripping. Great band name and cover art too. Check out White Trash's Wake Up 7 inch right here and enjoy some more fine Colorado punk rock.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday. Tuesday is about the worst day for updating, as I'm busy most of the time. But, I'll keep trying to update every day of the week, even Tuesday. Because I love. Anyways, that being said, I may not have an update today either. If I don't, I super-duper-promise to have something up tomorrow.